Real Estate Compliance | Fieldfisher
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Real Estate - Compliance

Especially in our current times of low interest rates, residential and commercial real estate offer a great incentive for investors, leading to the real estate industry moving closer to the realm of regulated financial markets. However, this is also accompanied by higher compliance requirements, which must be met with targeted advice and the right measures.

Real Estate – The Foundations of Success

The compliance rules to be observed in the Real Estate segment depend largely on the rental agreements, the investment and, if applicable, sales structure, local operations and the location of the property.

This results in a variety of different regulations and requirements, which make the establishment of a real estate compliance management system not only sensible but also indispensable.

Examples of Real Estate Risks

  • Transparency and money laundering rules
  • Corruption and bribery
  • National law
  • Permits
  • Regulations (fire protection, security etc.)
  • Insolvencies

Procedure and Range of Services

Procedure

As early as when considering the purchase of a property, it is important to design the ownership company and its shareholding structure in such a way that all transparency and money laundering regulations are complied with. When structuring the transaction, one must not only take one's own compliance regulations into account, but also those of third parties: service providers, tenants and financiers must also comply with compliance regulations and cause considerable problems for the other parties involved if they violate them.

Range of Services

We help you, both in the purchase or financing review and in the drafting of lease and construction contracts, to take precautionary measures against:

  • Inadmissible price agreements between your contract partner and third parties
  • Unlawful granting of advantages to your employees and service providers by the contractual partner
  • Illegal employment, violations of the minimum wage law, the law on the posting of workers and the SGB-IV
  • Corruption, infidelity, fraud
  • Improper handling of rental collateral

We advise investors on compliance risks in the areas of the environment, building regulations, construction planning law and proprietor and tenant law, the full implications of which can often only be assessed in their interaction with each other. We support foreign Ultimate Beneficial Owners in fulfilling their obligations to the transparency register, in compiling AML audit documents for contractual partners and in identifying and complying with relevant German legal provisions.